STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT — A federal judge is expected to sentence Purdue Pharma on April 21, 2026, to forfeit $225 million to the Justice Department. The sentencing would finalize a 2020 pact resolving federal civil and criminal probes against the OxyContin maker.

Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty to three federal criminal charges in November 2020. The company admitted it did not have an effective program to prevent its prescription painkillers from being diverted to the black market, despite telling the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that it did. It also admitted paying doctors through a speakers program to prescribe opioids and paying an electronic medical records company to send doctors patient information that encouraged more opioid prescriptions.

Under the plea deal, the government agreed not to collect $5.3 billion in criminal forfeitures and fines and $2.8 billion in civil liabilities from the company, in exchange for Purdue settling its remaining lawsuits. Portions of the uncollected amounts are treated as part of a broader settlement.

A judge approved that broader settlement in 2025, and it could take effect on May 1, 2026. It requires members of the Sackler family who own Purdue Pharma to pay up to $7 billion over 15 years to state, local and Native American tribal governments, individual victims and other parties. Most of the money is earmarked for government entities to use to address the opioid crisis, while the federal government will receive a small portion. Under the settlement, Purdue Pharma would dissolve and be succeeded by a new company, Knoa Pharma, which would operate for the public benefit and have a board appointed by state governments.

Sackler family members are shielded from opioid-related lawsuits by parties who accept the payments. No members of the family were criminally charged in connection with Purdue Pharma. Family members also agreed not to object to removal of their names from museums and other institutions they supported, and those names have been removed.

More than 54,000 individuals with personal injury claims against Purdue Pharma voted in favor of the settlement, while 218 voted against it. The settlement is among the largest in recent settlements by drugmakers, wholesalers and pharmacies, and the only major one including payments for individual victims or their survivors. Since 1999, the opioid crisis has been linked to 900,000 deaths in the U.S.

Susan Ousterman, a victim advocate, organized individuals who lost loved ones to deliver victim impact statements to the court before the sentencing. "They're not using that money effectively," Ousterman said.